: small pieces of paper or cardboard produced in punching paper tape or data cards
also
: a piece of chad
variants
or Chad
: a subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic language family comprising numerous languages of northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon, and Chad
Chadic
adjective
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Slang Meaning of Chad
Chad is a slang term meaning “a stereotypical alpha male; a man, admired or scorned for brazen self-confidence.” Learn more >
Examples of chad in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2026
As the new season progresses, one of the hanging chads from last season is the status of Voight’s relationship with Assistant State Attorney Nina Chapman (Sara Bues), who figured out during last season’s finale that Voight had a hand in setting up Reid’s murder.
—Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2025
But for some hanging chads and Supreme Court litigation, Gore-Lieberman almost won.
—Nathan Diament, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025
With Lionsgate Studios now split from Starz and some other hanging chads, the M&A landscape could soon heat up dramatically.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 9 June 2025
Most prominently these days, not a single American voter poked a ballot chad for Elon Musk to be chief executive of the United States — and not just because the megabillionaire was born in South Africa.
—John Scott Lewinski, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 21 Mar. 2025
And that leads us back to the most puzzling of The Witcher’s hanging chads: a second spinoff, codenamed Riff Raff and created by Witcher writer Haily Hall, which was partially filmed but never formally announced.
—Scott Meslow, Vulture, 11 Feb. 2025
Having a simple common system would remove the frictions caused by every state having different schemes that allow for different shenanigans, a la Florida's hanging chads.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
After 2000’s infamous hanging chads, election workers had to become IT professionals.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 25 Oct. 2024
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Noun
So set aside all the talk about hanging chads, swinging chads, pregnant chads and the Supreme Court decisions.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2026
As the new season progresses, one of the hanging chads from last season is the status of Voight’s relationship with Assistant State Attorney Nina Chapman (Sara Bues), who figured out during last season’s finale that Voight had a hand in setting up Reid’s murder.
—Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2025
But for some hanging chads and Supreme Court litigation, Gore-Lieberman almost won.
—Nathan Diament, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025
With Lionsgate Studios now split from Starz and some other hanging chads, the M&A landscape could soon heat up dramatically.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 9 June 2025
Most prominently these days, not a single American voter poked a ballot chad for Elon Musk to be chief executive of the United States — and not just because the megabillionaire was born in South Africa.
—John Scott Lewinski, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 21 Mar. 2025
And that leads us back to the most puzzling of The Witcher’s hanging chads: a second spinoff, codenamed Riff Raff and created by Witcher writer Haily Hall, which was partially filmed but never formally announced.
—Scott Meslow, Vulture, 11 Feb. 2025
Having a simple common system would remove the frictions caused by every state having different schemes that allow for different shenanigans, a la Florida's hanging chads.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
After 2000’s infamous hanging chads, election workers had to become IT professionals.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 25 Oct. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Chad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chad. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationGeographical Definition
Chad
geographical name
variants
or French Tchad
landlocked country in north central Africa; capital N'Djamena; a republic; until 1959 a territory of French Equatorial Africa area 495,755 square miles (1,284,000square kilometers), population 15,833,000
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